The road will be a dedicated bus, pedestrian and cycle route from Thames Valley Business Park to Napier Road.

Campaigners heard that the council envisaged as many as 30 buses an hour using the route, which includes a single bridge over the River Kennet, at the council’s traffic management sub-committee meeting on Wednesday, September 13.

Read More

Adam Thompson, asking a question of the committee through John Sharpe, said: “How will people in East Reading currently make use of the buses that pass through Cemetery Junction be able to use them when they bypass the area via a flyover over Kennet Mouth?

“Specifically as a blind person who uses the Thames Valley Park shuttle buses to get to my employment in the park, how is it anticipated that I will be able to access my employment if the TVP shuttle buses use the MRT?

Read More

Councillor Tony Page, the borough’s lead member for strategic environment, planning and transport, said: “The provision of bus services is at the discretion of the bus operating companies who will refine services by reacting to the demand over time.

“It is anticipated that the future provision of buses serving East Reading and beyond will be considerably greater with the MRT scheme in place than the current level of service, given the significant levels of development proposed in Reading town centre and Wokingham borough and the considerable journey times savings provided by the MRT route which enable operators to provide more frequent services without incurring additional operating costs."

Read More

East Reading MRT

Responding to a question on how much had been spent on the project so far, Cllr Page said the project would cost £24 million, of which £19 million would come from the Local Growth Fund from Central Government.